Our Approach
At ICI we are guided by the principles of Intergenerational Critical Youth Participatory Action Research (ICYPAR). ICYPAR isn't a research method but rather an approach to research that:
Centers those most impacted by the issues we are tackling,
namely young people, at all stages of our research process from selecting the research questions, collecting data, conducting analysis and developing products that share findings with various audiences.
Is grounded in a commitment to social justice.
This means we remain responsive to the needs and desires of the communities with whom we work. We work hard to ensure that our data is being used to guide large scale policy change but equally as important to us is that it be used to drive collective action on the local level.
Uses youth-adult partnerships to drive our work.
While youth may lead or come up with the directions for ICI’s research, our spaces are deeply intergenerational. Youth and adults co-facilitate, share power, jointly contribute expertise, skills, and social capital to support our collective change efforts.
Uses creative methods.
While we use traditional methods like surveys, focus groups and interviews, we also incorporate creative methods developed by our team drawing upon the wisdom of people inside and outside of the academy, like community organizers, educators, and everyday people.
Data Collection
ICI uses both qualitative, quantitative, traditional and creative methods in our research. While the YAY Census is live for six months annually, we use our ICI Summer Institute to design an annual qualitative study which may include focus groups, street interviews, or forum theater to name a few of the many methods employed in these qualitative deep dives.
Amplify
In 2016, The Intergenerational Change Initiative (ICI) partnered with the Young Hackers (a group of high school technologists) to engage in a multi-year, human-centered design process with over 300 NYC youth ages 13-24. Working in partnership with MIT Media Lab, young people created the technical specs for Amplify, the gamefied youth-based web-app that hosts our annual survey and survey results. Since the first launch of the YAY in 2020, young people visit Amplify annually to take the YAY survey, earn points, and win prizes.
Learn more about the YAY’s origin story >
Youth Ask Youth Survey
Since the launch of the 2020 YAY, NYC youth have weighed in on survey topics related to learning, economics, community, health and relationships in addition to targeted questions about climate change, mental health, policing, and food access, etc. The survey provides an annual temperature check on youth experiences as well as suggestions, concerns, and visions for improving NYC for youth. 2023 is our fourth year of YAY collection and we look to collect at least 10 years of data in NYC.
Check out our Amplify Dashboard and explore survey questions and youth responses from the last 4 years.
Sidewalk Science
Sidewalk Science (Stoudt et. al, 2019) is a critical participatory research method that we employ to share back our findings in community, share resources and collect other data via word walls, brief interviews, interactive art, etc.
Results
Our Theory of Action
Our theory of action includes using our data to push policy change in coalition with others as well as using it in local communities to drive action. We hold both those levels of change as equally important to us. We use our research to advocate that city officials and other adults in power be accountable to YOUTH needs and desires but we also use our findings to take our own actions in partnership with allies.
Winter Dataland
As an iterative process, we incorporate feedback loops along the way to ensure community members, especially youth, have opportunities to engage with our research. Our annual Winter Dataland event brings out hundreds of NYC youth to learn about our YAY survey results, add to our collective analysis and help shape the policy recommendations we include in the NYC Youth Agenda.
Accountable to Youth
We take the “action” part of our research seriously! We launched our first Accountable to YOUth report in 2023 to look at what action government or partners took in relation to our recommendations outlined in the 2022 Youth Agenda. We will do this report annually to see where we are moving the needle or not and keep policy-makers accountable to youth.
Check out our 2023 Accountable to YOUth report.
Community Days
At ICI we dont just use our data to push for policy change, we take action inspired by our results. Survey findings on topics such as food scarcity, lack of green spaces, garbage-strewn communities, and limited youth employment opportunities inspired countless ICI community collaborations. We’ve participated in community clean-ups, conducted outreach for local community gardens, contributed to community fridges,and volunteered at compost centers. In summer 2022, we conducted intergenerational street interviews and analyzed extant data sources to better understand the overwhelming economic concerns voiced by our YAY respondents. We developed and distributed our Economic Security 2022 Zine.pdf which included policy recommendations and suggested tools and resources for NYC youth.
NYC Youth Agenda
In 2021, ICI released the first NYC Youth Agenda in coalition with Citizens Committee for the Children (CCC) of New York, Department of Community and Youth Development (DYCD), and YVote. In 2023, the NYC Youth Agenda coalition grew to include 30+ youth committee members and adult allies from ICI, YVote, CCC, The Office of Neighborhood Safety Youth Council and DYCD’s My Brother Sisters Keeper. The Youth Agenda Committee is currently working on the 2024 NYC Youth Agenda. We will use youth-generated findings gleaned from the YAY survey and Winter Dataland to highlight five issue areas of importance to young people as well as develop youth-generated policy recommendations byy and for young people.
Check out our NYC Youth Agenda reports:
Working the Gap
Our ICI findings related to mental health and community wellness inspired CUNY Youth Studies program to develop a year long gap year initiative where young people are utilizing the data to implement action-oriented projects with youth at after-school programs and other community-based organizations.